Biosorption potential of cerium ions using Spirulina biomass

Two types of cyanobacteria of the genus Arthrospira (commonly known as Spirulina) were tested for biosorption of cerium(III) ions from aqueous solutions. An endemic type (ES) found in the northern Negev desert, Israel, and a commercial powder (CS) were used in this study. Biosorption was evaluated as a function of pH, contact time, initial metal concentration, number of sorption-desorption cycles, and salt concentration. The optimum pH range for biosorption was found to be 5.0–5.5. The kinetic characteristics of both Spirulina types were found to be highly compatible with a pseudo-second order kinetic model. The adsorption isotherms of both types were found to be well-suited to Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption isotherms. Maximum biosorption uptakes, according to the Langmuir model, were 18.1 and 38.2 mg/g, for ES and CS, respectively. Sodium chloride concentrations of up to 5 g/L had a minor effect on cerium biosorption. Desorption efficiency was found to be greater than 97% with 0.1 mol/L HNO3 after three sorption-desorption cycles, without significant loss in the biosorption capacity. The results indicated the feasibility of cerium recovery from industrial wastes using Spirulina biomass.

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